BabySwitch

If you were to take the collective temperature of the loyal viewers of The Young and the Restless, the number one daytime drama in the Nielsen ratings for 20 years in a row, you would learn that the fans are hot! They are steamed and fuming and ready to boil over with rage. What's got so many people so incensed? Well, it might be easy to say it's Y&R's recent baby-switch story line -- where Sharon's baby was taken from her and given to Ashley, with neither woman aware of the crime committed against them -- but it's actually more than that.

Y&R fans are up in arms over happenings on screen and off. The very idea that Eric Braeden is leaving the show, that the character of Victor Newman is going to be killed off, has been a shock. After the near exit of Melody Thomas Scott and Jess Walton recently, it appears as though the foundation of the show -- the most integral characters and the actors who play them -- are being destroyed. Fans are wondering what the powers that be are doing to "their" show!